Genderfluid (A Cinderella Story)

4: Lunch

At eleven forty five I met with Silver in the courtyard. He was waiting for me, in front of the Memorial for those kids. He didn't notice me until he turned to the left a bit, looking at one of the pictures of a girl who had ended her life.

"It's funny," he said lowly, looking at me from the side.

"What is?"

"The Memorial." I gave him a weird look.

"Funny how?" There was a long pause of silence between us, a light breeze kicking up cherry blossom petals around us.

"It looks like they left room for more people..." I didn't know what to say. Was that a hint at something he wasn't telling me? Did someone we know plan on killing themselves? Did... he?

A bell rang inside the building.

"Well, let's get going." He said, smiling hapily at me now. His mood and expression, along with the way he was now carrying himself, changed drastically. It was like someone flipped a switch. "We wouldn't want to end up being late coming back!" I glared at him, getting a laugh in response.

"So where are we going?" I asked, shuffling in my pocket for my wallet. I grabbed it and placed it in my sweatshirt pocket, with those little pieces of paper from first period. I never did get around to looking at those.

"I was thinking Panera Bread," Silver replied as we stopped at a light. New York was as crowded and bustling with people as it ever was. Cars sped past, high above the speed limit, almost hitting people without a care in the world. Pedestrians of all colors, dress styles, sexual identities and social class were on these gum coated, somewhat dirty sidewalks. Food venders were on every corner, at every stop light, hoping to get hungry drivers to stop at their place. Not a single block went without a store for food or clothing, all of which was over priced because of where it was.

The light turned white, signaling the "okay" to walk. I looked up at Silver, casually walking next to him. In my pocket my phone vibrated and I pulled it out.

Adrianna

Where are you and Silver?

That's right... We didn't tell them we weren't coming to lunch.

We went out for it today.

Adrianna

Without us?

Silver wanted it to just be me and him. I guess he wants to talk about something. I dunno. He's being weird...

Adrianna

;) okay. See you later.

What the hell was the winky face for?

"ELI!" I felt someone pull me forward, roughly. Arms were around me, a loud honking sound persisted in the background. "What the hell were you thinking?" Silver exclaimed over the noise.

"What...?"

"You almost got ran over!" I blinked, surprised. Did I stop in the street? He let go of me and tilted my chin up so I would look at him.

"Oh..."

"You could've gotten killed! Watch what you're doing next time!"

"Sorry..." Silver sighed with regret at his tone.

"Just... Don't scare me like that." He began to walk away, "You coming?" I nodded, unable to answer. The butterflies in my stomach were going nuts...

----------

"You look like you want to say something," Silver said abruptly, as the food arrived to our table. I glanced up at him, shuffling my hands under the table.

"Why are we here?" I asked slowly, not looking at him. I stared down at my tomato panini, hoping to just get an answer.

"What do you mean?" Of course not..

"I mean why are we having lunch out... And alone?" Silver didn't answer me but gave me a look as he picked up his Mountain Dew and sipped from it. "Sil--"

"I thought I would give you some time to figure that out, Eli." He said blandly, "You're smart. I think you know the answer to that." I could feel my heart pounding in my chest now, like I had just ran a marathon. My skin heated beneath my clothing and a light blush rose to my cheeks.

"I don't..."

"Oh come now," He smiled. "I'm sure you know what I'm talking about." Abruptly I stood up, stammering about getting myself a dessert and pulling my wallet out from my pocket swiftly.

Two, small pieces of paper fluttered out and landed on the floor. As I reached to get them, Silver reached too, snatching them from my grip.

"And what would these be?" His bright green eyes scanned the first paper, the smile dimming on his face. He opened the second and looked up at me, disgusted. "What is this?"

"I don't know," I stated, holding my hand out for the papers. "I never got a chance to look at them." His eyes stared into mine in an aggressive way, making me uncomfortable.

"Where did you get them?" I dropped my hand to my side. He wasn't going to hand me those notes...

"Someone threw them on my desk In English," I replied, "Why?"

"Who?"

"I don't know! I didn't get the chance to see them do it. Why? What does it matter to you?" SIlver stood up and held out his hand. I reached forward and opened mine, the two pieces of paper landing softly on my palm.

"It matters to me because it's you," He said with a frown. I took the first piece of paper and opened it.

Fag

Then the second .

Attention whore

I looked up to Silver, who had started walking out of the restaraunt. "Wait!" I called, "Silver! Wait up!" He didn't stop walking, but he slowed down outside. I grabbed my bags and caught up to him. "Silver, don't get upset over this," I said, waving the papers in front of us. "This isn't a big deal."

"Why shouldn't I be upset?" He asked me, "There are people making fun of you for something that you can't change." Trying to diffuse the situation, I found myself babbling about how much I don't really care about it, until, towards the end, I made a mistake in my words.

"It happens all the time! I'm used to it by now!" I could almost hear the snapping in his head.

"You're... used to it?" I didn't answer him, and stared at the groun instead. We walked quickly back to the school, even though we still had half an hour until the next class. "People have done this to you before?"

"Er..."

"Why haven't you said anything?"

"Because I don't want to make a big deal over something as dumb as that!"

We walked the rest of the way to school in silence. I guess he didn't agree with what I said...